And now to the agreeing backlash over the 29-year-old american who revealed the sweeping surveillance program in this country. This evening, federal authorities say of the millions of phone numbers they have access to, they looked at just 300 numbers in the last year. Abc's bob woodruff is in hong kong, where it is believed tonight the whistleblower is still hiding out. Reporter: It has been a week since edward snowden was last seen here in hong kong. Nowhere on the streets of one of the most densely populated places in the world. This morning, harsh words from the former vice president, concerned that snowden's leaks of classified documents could weaken america's defense. I think he's a traitor. If we had had this before 9/11, had been able to use that program, that capability, we might well have been able to prevent 9/11. Reporter: The national security agency stepped upped its defense, saying their intelligence gathering prevented potential attacks in more than 20 countries, insisting that they only investigated 300 phone numbers last year. But whether these programs are truly effective is still being questioned. I don't think collecting millions and millions of americans' phone calls is making us any safer and I think it's perhaps a violation of the fourth amendment. Reporter: All still wondering if snowden will emerge again to defend the morality of his actions. He needs to look an american jury in the eye and explain why he has put american lives in danger. Reporter: Although there are some people here in hong kong that do consideren to be a traitor, according to a new poll, twice as many think of him as a hero, and either way, they insist their government should not send him back to the united states.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.